The present invention relates generally to a system and method for multi level quality checking of transcripts of voice files. Although an envisioned application for the present invention is for the transcription and quality assurance of medical reports, it will be appreciated that the application of the present invention is not limited to the field of medicine.
In a typical hospital setting, a doctor creates a voice file by dictating a medical report on to a hospital's database. The voice file is then transcribed by a transcriptionist. The transcriptionist listens to a playback of the voice file and types a transcript of the voice file as playback proceeds. Alternately, speech recognition software may first operate on the voice file before transcription; the transcriptionist is then provided with the output of the speech recognition software as well as the voice file and listens to a playback of the voice file while making corrections to the output of the speech recognition software. In either event, the result of transcription is a transcript of the voice file.
To be certain that the transcription of the voice file was accurate, quality assurance (QA) is required. The quality assurance of transcripts is done by correctionists. Typically, a correctionist listens to a playback of the voice file while proofreading the corresponding transcript and corrects any discrepancies between the playback and the transcript.
Today's situation concerning the quality assurance of transcripts of recorded voice generally presents one of two undesirable choices. The first possibility is to perform the all of the QA work in the United States using an organization's in-house QA department or outsourcing to a US-based transcription company. Advantageously, the expected quality of such an American transcription is high; 96% correctness is an accepted industry norm. Additionally, US-based transcriptionists commonly possess a high degree of skill and commitment to accomplishing highly accurate QA work. A principal drawback to performing QA of transcripts in the United States is expense. Typically, US-based transcription companies charge fifteen cents per line for transcription and QA services.
The alternative to performing QA work on transcripts in the US is to have the QA work done offshore in countries with large numbers of highly educated English-speaking people. Such countries include India, the Philippines, and Trinidad, among others. A considerable advantage to offshore QA work is the lower labor cost in offshore countries. In India, for example, the cost of transcription is typically one-half of one cent per line plus approximately five or six cents per line for quality assurance—a total savings of about 60% compared to the cost of domestic QA. Moreover, today's technology ensures that moving QA work offshore is facile, safe, and inexpensive—internet bandwidth costs have become increasingly less expensive and secure, encrypted connections have become the norm. A principal drawback to offshore QA work is its perceived low reputation for quality. The result of an organization's low opinion of offshore QA work is low confidence in the accuracy of an offshore quality assured transcript which may outweigh the cost benefit of moving the QA work offshore. It is contemplated that a workflow utilizing several levels of quality assurance blending both offshore and domestic QA resources will maximize the advantages and minimize the drawbacks of domestic and offshore QA work. Lower level QA work may be carried out offshore with the attendant benefit of cost savings. With each level of QA, the level of confidence in the accuracy of transcripts will increase depending on the skill level of the person performing the QA work. As the level of confidence increases, an increasingly smaller number of transcripts will require further QA work to achieve an acceptable confidence level. High-level or top-level work may then be performed either domestically or in a higher-cost offshore country on a modest sample of transcripts with the attendant benefit of high accuracy. Such a method will have the benefit of producing transcripts of similar accuracy to wholly domestic transcripts at a lower cost.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and system of multi level quality checking of transcripts with high accuracy at reduced cost. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and system for facilitating the transcription of voice files prior to subjecting the transcripts of the voice files to a multi level transcript checking process.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.